MPH IGUIDE.PDF

This document is the Installation Guide for Monitoring Performance History (MPH) Version 1.4, published in October 1995, for OpenVMS AXP and OpenVMS VAX systems.

Purpose: MPH is part of the Digital Product Performance Program, designed to monitor and verify the in-field performance of Digital systems. The collected data is used to inform engineering improvements and enhance system reliability.

Core Functions:

• Copies system error logs to a designated area (MPH$COPY) on a regular basis.
• Profiles crash dumps during system reboots and places the profile in the MPH$COPY area.
• Extracts the hardware configuration of a cluster to a file in the MPH$COPY area.
• All collected data (error logs, crash profiles, and hardware configuration) is copied weekly to Digital's processing site.

Data Transfer Methods: MPH supports four file transfer methods: DSNlink, Internet, DECnet (to another MPH/DSNlink cluster), and EASYnet (for Digital internal systems). The installer selects the preferred method during setup.

Key Installation Requirements & Considerations:

• Operating Systems: OpenVMS VAX Version 5.0 or higher, or OpenVMS AXP Version 1.0 or higher.
• Prerequisite Software: DSNlink (specific versions) if chosen as the transfer method.
• System Serial Numbers: Critical for data correlation; must be obtained for all nodes to be monitored.
• Disk Space: Requires 1200 blocks during installation and 300 blocks per node after. It is strongly recommended not to install MPH on the system disk. The target device must be accessible by all monitored systems.
• System Parameters: The DUMPBUG parameter must be set to 1 to enable full functionality, including crash log collection.
• Privileges: SETPRV privilege is required for installation.
• Mixed Clusters (OpenVMS VAX and AXP nodes): MPH must be installed twice—once for VAX nodes and once for AXP nodes—using different target devices for each installation.
• Procedure: The installation is interactive, takes approximately 5 minutes, and is initiated via VMSINSTAL. A system disk backup is recommended before installation.

Post-Installation Management:

• The MPH$STARTUP.COM procedure must be added to the system or cluster startup file, ensuring it runs after network and DSNlink (if applicable) startup.
• Nodes can be added or removed from monitoring using MPH$EDIT_NODES.COM.
• The MPH$BATCH_NODE system logical (designating the node responsible for DSNlink transfers) may need to be redefined.
• An Installation Verification Procedure (IVP) is available to ensure the integrity of installed files.
• MPH uses hibernating processes (ELOG_COLLECT_0/1 for error log collection and MPH$COLLECT_0/1 for data transfer) that system managers should ensure are always active.
• Error log collection includes safeguards: initial large error logs (over 25,000 blocks) or large daily changes (over 2500 blocks) will not be copied to prevent system/disk impact, with warnings sent to the system manager.